Mr Zawadzki, who speaks no English, told the court through an interpreter: "I didn't do that."

After Ms Anders' body was found in the first floor Richmond flat by police on November 30, Mr Zawadzki was arrested and treated as a suspect, the court heard.

He had moved to the UK from Poland to help look after his sister's baby and lived in Hounslow before staying with a client of his sister's, Nigel Pinnock, in The Towers, the jury was told.

In a police statement read out in court by Miss Plaschkes, Mr Zawadzki said he recalled one night his sister left Mr Pinnock's flat without her baby and he cried all night long.

The court heard when Miss Zawadzka returned she was carrying a black bag.

The statement read: "She put the handbag on the floor and I passed her the baby. She walked away and because I was curious I looked inside the bag.

"It was then that I saw a hammer. I didn't touch it. I immediately stepped back because Edyta was coming into the room.

"I didn't think she knew that I had seen it."

He also told the court Miss Zawadzka wrote a message on his Facebook to his girlfriend that said he hated her, but the defence claimed he was lying.

Mr Zawadzki was unhappy with his living conditions when he arrived in England, the court heard.

He said: "How is a brother supposed to feel when his own sister brings him over to England and throws him in a flat with those conditions? I was feeling taken advantage of."

The defence suggested Mr Zawadzki went into The Towers on the night of November 16, but he said he went to collect money from his sister at a nearby bus stop before he went to central London with a friend.